Archive for John Ensign

Republicans are positively out of control these days, aren't they? Why, it's almost as if GOP scandals are everywhere! That's because they are everywhere; if it's not one corrupt politician, it's another.

Here's a visual guide to some of the most recent culprits. Think of it as a pictorial road map that's so easy to follow, even a right wing nut job could understand it. And if I omitted any other obvious GOP Moments o' Disgrace that broke over the past couple of years or are currently rearing their ugly heads, please let me know. I'm still not myself yet, so the ol' brain is barely functioning:

In a statement, Kirsten Hughes, chairman of MassGOP, said that it's "disgusting" that [Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA)] would "rub elbows" with [Eliot] Spitzer, who resigned in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal.

“You are judged by the company you keep and it’s disgusting for Congressman Markey to rub elbows with a man best known for his solicitation of prostitutes,” said Kirsten Hughes, MassGOP Chairman.“Instead of lining his campaign coffers with donations from the disgraced Eliot Spitzer, Markey should immediately cancel the fundraiser and denounce Spitzer’s abhorrent and unacceptable behavior. Anything short of a public condemnation and cancellation would send the wrong message to women everywhere.”

Sorry, the headline makes me giggle. I had almost forgot about this, what a scummy thing to do. Very "family values". Oh, and Hampton is the one being indicted, Ensign is just fine, thank you very much.

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum betrayed his professed family values when he tipped off his friend, former Sen. John Ensign, that a story about his extramarital affair was about to break, said Doug Hampton, husband of the woman with whom Ensign had been having the affair.

“If Santorum was true to his values, why didn’t he ask Ensign to step down and why hasn’t he been more forthright on his reasons for doing what he did?” Hampton said in an interview with the Sun on Friday. “If you are a family-values guy, a straight-shooter, there is no reason for you not to address poignantly, truthfully and honestly your position and what you did. End of discussion.”

Hampton, who was one of Ensign’s top aides at the time, said he asked Santorum in June 2009 for help in ending the affair Ensign was having with his wife.

Instead of offering help, Santorum forwarded to Ensign an email Hampton had written to Fox News to publicize the affair in a last-ditch effort to put an end to it.

Santorum’s move allowed Ensign to acknowledge the affair and issue a public apology before the media could break the story.

“I begged Rick to talk to me first,” Hampton said in his first public interview since Santorum’s surge in the GOP presidential primary race. “I told him, ‘You don’t understand what I’ve done to try and help this man understand what he has done. You’re a good friend, maybe you could go talk to him.’ ”

The incident has become more and more galling to Hampton as Santorum has become a front-runner in the presidential race. Coming within eight votes of winning Iowa, Santorum has established himself as a religious conservative with traditional family values.